Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls, New York was the site of the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848. Nikon D700/28-300VR, f/18, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 42mm focal length, HDR Image.

A few years later, one of the original members of the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was introduced to Susan B. Anthony by their mutual friend, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, in the same Seneca Falls village. Together, Anthony and Stanton pushed for the right of women to vote.

Single and having no children, Anthony had the time and energy to do the speaking and traveling Stanton was unable to do. Their skills complemented each other. Stanton, the better orator and writer, scripted many of Anthony’s speeches, while Anthony was the movement’s organizer and tactician.

Neither Susan B. Anthony nor Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived to see the day when women where granted the right to vote when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1920. They will be forever remembered as the women who advocated equal rights for women at a time when such thinking was frowned upon by society.

Signs found at the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York.

The Women’s Rights National Historical Park which is administered by the U.S. National Park service cares for the convention property, the two story visitor center and displays which help to teach the history of the 19th century women’s movement many people of today have a hard time understanding. The displays are interactive and worth an hour or two of anyone’s time if you ever find yourself somewhere between Rochester and Syracuse, New York.

Important message about equality and democracy here. Did you know that Finland as the first country in the world introduced suffrage for both women and men in 1906? (Denmark, Norway and Iceland joined in 1915). In 2011, there are still countries without equal right to vote for all citizens….

I did not know that, Truels. Does not surprise me as Susan B. Anthony traveled to Europe and did many speaking engagements there. The Mary Poppins movie is based in early 20th century London.

Today, is does amaze and upset me to see how women are treated in Africa, Middle East, India, China and other places. Societies move slowly. It took 72 years for American women to win the right to vote after the Seneca Falls convention.

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to my personal journal through my viewfinder. A place where I leave the world behind and try to find the spirit of what I am seeing.

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